Historical Facts

Abbeville County takes its name from the town of Abbeville, which was named by Huguenot settler Dr. John de la Howe in honor of his home, Abbeville, France. [1] Abbeville County was settled heavily by Scots-Irish settlers who migrated from Pennsylvania along the Great Wagon Road. [2] Learn more about the history of Abbeville County from the South Carolina State Library or from Carolana.com.

When Abbeville was created from the old Ninety-Six District in 1785, it inherited the former district's record collection. [3]

Parent County/Boundary Changes

1785 - Thirty-three counties were created within existing South Carolina Districts. Abbeville County was created within Ninety-Six District.

1800 - Abbeville was re-christened a district and Ninety-Six District was abolished.[4]

The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Books

150 Years Later, Collier, Melvin J., pub. 2011. Available here: 150 Years Later. This resource will be very useful for identifying research techniques and historical documentation available for discovering ancestors who were former slaves and former slaveholders. Specific resources often overlooked are cited and are useful for research in Abbeville County, SC. Methods for identifying ancestors migrating to Mississippi prior to 1865 have also been cited.

African Americans

Fair, Robert A. Our Slaves Should Have the Bible: An Address Delivered Before the Abbeville Bible Society, At Its Anniversary, July, 1854 by Robert A. Fair, Esq., Abbeville, S.C. , pub. 1854. Digital version at Internet Archive.

Will of George Galphin. Typescript, 2002. FHL fiche 6004787 [Chiefly the will of George Galphin of Abbeville, South Carolina. He gave all the legatees listed in his will their freedom and discharged them from all manner of slavery and bondage. He also left items to family members living in Ireland.]

In Those Days is an oral history from elderly African Americans in Elbert County, Georgia, and Abbeville County, South Carolina.

1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Abbeville County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see South Carolina Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than online nationwide indexes.

1840

Revolutionary War Pensioners

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. pub. 1841. FHL Book 973 X2pc 1840 and film 2321; digital version at Google Books. [See South Carolina, Abbeville District on page 142.]

Carlisle, H. Arnett. The History of Lowndesville, S.C. (Danielsville, Georgia: Heritage Papers, c1987), 414 pages. Includes biographies, military history, cemeteries and the following census information: 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910. Book found at WorldCat 18557351, FHL Book 975.735/L1 H2c

Immigration

Moragne, W.C. An Address, Delivered at New Bordeaux, Abbeville District, S.C., November 15, 1854, on the 90th Anniversary of the Arrival of the French Protestants at that Place. James Phynney, 1857. Digital version at Google Books.

Porter, H. Leonard. Destiny of the Scotch-Irish: An Account of a Migration from Ballybay, Ireland to Washington County, New York; Abbeville District, South Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Preble County, Ohio; Randolph County, Illinois and the Central Illinois Prairie, 1720-1853. 1985. FHL Book 973 W2po

Early migration routes to and from Abbeville County for European settlers included: [6]

Land and Property

Plats For State Land Grants 1784-1868 For information about the State Land Grants, see State Land Grants

Deed Books

Because of South Carolina’s history as an agricultural state many residents owned land. For more information about types of land records see South Carolina Land and Property.

Tracing records through South Carolina county and district changes can be difficult. In general, for earliest records begin by searching the Charleston District, then your ancestor’s residential district, then neighboring districts, then the residential county, then neighboring counties. Not all districts and counties kept records. The following chart show where you may best expect to find land records for Abbeville County:

Tracing Land Currently in Abbeville County with Parent Counties and Districts[7]

War of 1812

List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. FHL Book 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, South Carolina, Abbeville County, p. 181. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

Civil War service men from Abbeville County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regimens that were formed of many men from Abbeville County.

Ingram, Virginia. Confederate Veterans of Abbeville County [S.C.] from the Enrollment Books Taken About 1902. All Civil War veterans of Abbeville County are listed first by township & then Alphabetically by veteran's surname. WorldCat 43499609, FHL 975.735 M22i

South Carolina. County Court. County Enrollment Book [of] Confederate Veterans; List of Widows, 1929. Arranged by surname in alphabetical order. FHL Film 181613

Abbeville County Courthouse. Distribution of the State Pension Fund in Abbeville County, South Carolina for 1916-1956.. FHL microfilm 181614

Newspapers

Historic

The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Abbeville County, South Carolina on their Chronicling America website. For publication details, including dates of publication, frequency, preceding and succeeding titles, and to find out which libraries have holdings, click on the newspaper title.

Periodicals

Probate Records

Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.”[8] Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. For further information see probate records in State Probate Records.

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Abbeville wills and probate records. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:

Taxation

Tax-related records are kept by the offices of the county Assessor, Auditor, Sheriff, and Treasurer. Taxes were levied on real and personal property and can help establish ages, residences, relationships, and the year an individual died or left the area. They can be used as substitutes for missing or destroyed land and census records.

Vital Records

Birth, marriage, and death records were not recorded by South Carolina until the 1900s, thus leaving a lack of vital records. Substitute records, when available, are used to obtain this information. These substitute records including newspapers, court records have been added to this section, when applicable.

Birth

State-wide birth registration began in 1915. For a copy of a birth from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Abbeville County Health Department also has copies but they provide only an abbreviated form with limited information. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Marriage

In South Carolina, marriage licenses were not required by local governments until 1 July 1911. However, in the 1700s, the Church of England parish churches were required to record all marriages - even if the couple were not members of the denomination. Not all churches recorded these marriages and some have not survived. See South Carolina Vital Records for more information.

The Abbeville County Library system has a main county library and two branches. The county library has the largest collection of genealogical material, though the branches also have helpful material. The County Library has books, name files, old newspapers, and microfilm. The library system has an online catalog which is shared by three other counties. You can search for specific items in the search box at the top of the screen. Or you can brows the collection by clicking the starred Search tab, then limiting your search results to the genealogy collection. At the Reference tab there are a number of genealogy resources you can search.

For Genealogy Requests - please email genealogy@abbevillecounty.org including some background and specific information you are seeking. Genealogy volunteers will search for your information and respond directly to you.

The McCain Library at Erskine College has records helpful to genealogists. The Archive and Special Collections located in Ried Hall serves as a central location for preserving and accessing records relating to the intertwined histories of Erskine College, Erskine Theological Seminary, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and Abbeville County, South Carolina. The genealogical collection contains information on persons having connections to any or all of these institutions and locations, as well as general resources for those doing family history research. There are census records, diaries and family histories, local newspapers, and more.It includes the Miller-Henry Family History Center and the Woffard E. Baldwin Reading Room. The Library also has a Government documents section. The archival research and photocopying policies are available online.

Erskine College maintains a searchable database of periodical subscriptions owned by Piedmont Technical College, Lander University, Erskine College, Greenwood County Library, and the libraries at the Greenwood Genetics Center and Self Regional Healthcare. You will be able to search for periodical holdings by title and limit your search by location.

The South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL) is a collaborative effort that includes South Carolina’s schools, libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. It includes resources for ageds kindergarten through adult. Its mission is to create, maintain, and promote digital collections that represent South Carolina's historical and cultural resources. It also seeks to enhance the overall education and scholarship of South Carolina's citizens by coordinating free and unlicensed access to these digital collections through a central web presence.

Abbeville County Museums

Abbeville County MuseumAddress:Popular and Cherry StreetsAbbeville, SC 29620Telephone: 864 366 6525 or 864-459-4600 The Abbeville County Museum is part of a collection of historic sites in the Old 96 District that includes Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, and McCormick counties.

↑Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002) WorldCat entry. FHL Book 973 D274 2002, and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the early Colonial Period" (1923). WorldCat 1523234, (FHL Book 970.1 M992i)